Techniques Car Club

Over 35 Years Of "Show You How"

Montebello California's Schurr High School can lay claim to being the birthplace of one of lowriding's most long-lasting clubs, the Techniques Car Club. In 1972 at the start of the school year Roland Ortiz, and brothers Aaron and Alonzo Quintana were thinking about joining a car club. After checking out a few clubs, they could not find one that fit the image they were looking for at the time. They all agreed that it would be best to simply start a club on their own. The first order of business was to find a name for the club. The name they would decide on had to have some meaning behind it, something they could base their style upon. After going through several different names, they came up with Techniques. Looking up the definition in Webster's Dictionary confirmed that they have indeed found the right name for the club. The definition of Techniques is "show you how". With that all important first step out of the way, it was time for the boys to build the club.

The club had jackets made before they built any cars, so technically they were first known as a "jacket club". In order for the club to be recognized as a car club, the club not only had to build cars, but they had to come up with a plaque for the club. The first members that built cars agreed on a plaque design, and it was finally time to hit the cruising spots and car shows as a club.

The club had to endure some rough and unfortunately violent times in their early years. Back in the 70's and 80's, car clubs were literally fighting for respect from one another. That period of lowriding is now known as the "club wars". Eventually things would settle down and the clubs, for the most part, would get along.

In the 90's, Techniques held a picnic to bring members together to talk about a re-organization. Members and their families came from all over to Penn Park in Whittier, California to get together and talk about getting the club active again. Most of the members in attendance had not seen each other for years and had lots of catching up to do. Upon hearing that one of the club's most dedicated members, Daniel "Danny Red" Aguirre had passed away without being given a proper headstone at his gravesite, some of the original and current members decided they needed to help a fallen member. The club got together and made a donation to Daniel's family. The club then held a dedication ceremony at the grave site to honor Daniel.

It was after the dedication ceremony that some of the original members got their second wind and got the urge to build another car. Many of the original members had been raising families in and around the Southern California area and had thought that they got lowriding out of their system years ago but they were wrong. The club was about to break out for the second time in its history.

The club now has a total of nine chapters. Eight chapters are in the United States and one chapter is in Japan. In recent years, the Arizona chapter was totally restructured with the true Techniques plaque design and rules. Techniques even have chapters in Fort Bragg, North Carolina and the state of Texas that are primarily made up of members that are in the military. In fact, many of the members of these chapters are on active duty, so it is not uncommon to see the Techniques logo in the Middle East or other parts of the world. Texas is the newest chapter, with members coming from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. The Japan chapter is in its tenth year and is based out of Osaka in the city of Tokushima. It is not uncommon to see "jack stand" quality cars cruising the local streets of each chapter's location.

The club allows both cars and trucks in the club as long as they are built in the traditional lowrider style. You will see everything from the early Bombs, Big Body Cadillac's, 1950's Chevy trucks, Town Cars and various years of the timeless classic Impala. The club's cars have appeared in music videos and movies throughout the years. Peter Cruz's 1947 Fleetline "El Duran" was featured in the cult classic movie "Mi Vida Loca". One of the latest cars to debut is Joey Hernandez's 1979 Lincoln Continental Mark V "Family Jewels". The officers and car committee work to ensure the member's cars are built properly and maintain the image within the club's standards.

A lot of Lowrider car clubs these days allow their members to fly club colors while riding their Harley Davidson motorcycles. Some like Techniques have established a motorcycle club within the club. In fact, Techniques can lay claim to having the oldest motorcycle club in lowriding. They started their motorcycle club in 1980, and are stronger than ever today. The club's motorcycles are as custom as their cars. Lot of chrome, paint and money has gone into the building of these two wheel rides just like their four wheeled vcounterparts. Not to be left out, the club also has a bicycle club for its younger members.

In its history, the Techniques have attended both small and large cars shows. In 2001, the club took a trip to the Las Vegas Super Show with a total of thirty one entries. In fact, they had the second most entries for the show, and, even more impressively, the club was awarded trophies for almost every category they entered. The club has sent a few rides out of state for show via car carrier, but many chapters have driven their cars on 13" wires to the long distance shows. The club has produced an annual car show in Irwindale, California to benefit the organization "Scholarship for Students". In 2008, they held a Bone Marrow Donor Drives to assist the Marrow.org organization with the building of their donor list.

Family and longevity have been the true keys to the success of this club. The Los Angeles chapter, aka the mother chapter of Techniques which is led by Ray Carrillo, still has their monthly meetings and Friday night outings at the "lot" in Baldwin Park. The chapter has been meeting at the "lot" for 29 years, and recently celebrated their remarkable 35 year anniversary. As with other clubs, Techniques makes sure to include the family in club activities at all times, and to hold family outings. The club has proven its longevity, boasting members from different generations of the same family. Thanks to this multi-generational diversity, there is no doubt that the Techniques will be around for many years to come. The members of Techniques live the life of a true Lowrider and believe in the saying "Techniques Forever, Forever Techniques"